Referee leaves Big 12 to train NFL officials

An overnight internet sensation, Mike Defee holds one of several shirts worn by his coworkers Tuesday after memes depicting him as a muscular referee at the National Championship game went viral. Photo taken Tuesday, January 10, 206 Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise less

An overnight internet sensation, Mike Defee holds one of several shirts worn by his coworkers Tuesday after memes depicting him as a muscular referee at the National Championship game went viral. Photo taken ... more

An overnight internet sensation, Mike Defee holds one of several shirts worn by his coworkers Tuesday after memes depicting him as a muscular referee at the National Championship game went viral. Photo taken Tuesday, January 10, 206 Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise less

An overnight internet sensation, Mike Defee holds one of several shirts worn by his coworkers Tuesday after memes depicting him as a muscular referee at the National Championship game went viral. Photo taken ... more

After 20 years officiating college football, Mauriceville resident and internet-famed referee Mike Defee is hanging up his whistle to train National Football League officials and focus on his full-time job in Mid-County.

Defee, manager for Newtron Beaumont LLC located in Nederland, said his business has felt the impact of the new coronavirus outbreak, prompting his decision to leave the Big 12 after officiating for 15 seasons.

“I couldn’t commit to every single weekend in the fall,” said Defee, who went viral as the “ripped ref” in 2017 when fans noticed his muscular arms as he officiated the National Championship game between Alabama and Clemson.

Defee shared his decision with his former Big 12 supervisor Walt Anderson, who is currently vice president of officiating over training and development for the NFL. Defee said his familiarity with Anderson’s program helped him decide to make the jump to the NFL program.

“He said he would work around my schedule and take whatever availability he could get,” he said.

“The NFL is much more developed, personnel wise, so they will move much quicker through the program. My role is to help NFL referees understand their role and offer advice about things that I did.”

Defee said a head official’s job is to lead the evaluation of his or her crew.

“You are responsible for dishing out correct calls or no-calls and downgrades,” he said. “Guys can be a little sensitive and there is a certain way to approach that. You are a mini extension of the supervisor. You are the supervisor on that given day for that game. It is your job to have the crew ready for the game and know what is expected. That is what I will be doing.”

Long-time NFL referee Bill Leavy is in charge of working with officials from an Xs and Os standpoint, while Defee will be in charge of leadership and getting referees acclimated to the program.

The move means Defee will no longer officiate, ending a 20-year run as a referee.

“I’ll miss the game-day experience,” he said. “I’ll miss the interaction with the guys in my crew. They were the absolute best. Any notoriety I got was a direct result of their work. You can’t be successful without a great crew. I wasn’t the easiest guy to work for or work with, because I was very demanding, but those people always stepped up and took care of their business. I’ll miss those guys. I’ll be honest, I’ll miss the coaches, too.”

Defee had officiated some of college football’s legends from coaches Bob Stoops and Mack Brown to players like Colt McCoy and Ndamukong Suh. Defee’s demand for excellence stood out in 2011 college football classic when 22nd-ranked Baylor, led by would-be Heisman winner Robert Griffin, upset the fifth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners 45-38 with a late touchdown.

“Baylor had pretty much dominated the game early on,” Defee said. “But Oklahoma reestablished late in the game and forced a tie. They kick off to Baylor who got the ball around the 20 with no timeouts.”

After a few scrambles by Griffin, Baylor had the ball deep in OU territory.

“After they got a first down, my umpire has the ball, which got wet somehow,” Defee said. “He’s over there polishing the rock. I need to get the ball on the ground. As a ref, they are out of timeouts. I can’t allow them to have additional time. I yelled at him to put the ball on the ground. He looked back at me and I yelled, with colorful language, to put the ball on the ground. There is an Oklahoma defensive player standing next to him and turns to him and says, ‘You guys gonna fight?’ We talk about that and laugh about it to this day.”

He said he has already begun to teleconference with the NFL to prepare for the 2020 season.

“We’re working now as a staff,” he said. “We continue to work and plan for the season. Who knows what is out there? We have to plan as if it is going to occur and get people ready to go.”